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Comment by jbob2000 | Hacker News Reader

jbob2000

> The USC education helped Mr. Meru earn $225,000 last year working for a corporate practice in Draper, Utah, 20 minutes from Salt Lake City

Cry me a river, you're making bank, bud.

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It's amazing he's only paying back $1600ish a month on that kind of income.

As far as crying a river goes, I wonder what that's done to his credit rating... Seems like it would be in the toilet from debt to income ratio.

How does the US stay competitive with these salaries? In most of Europe it's very rare to make over 100k, and exceedingly rare to have a salary over 200k. As a counterbalance the employer side costs are larger of course, but I would assume the employer total cost difference is considerable anyway.

Wow. A little research shows a home worth nearly a million.

In Utah. Not exactly an HCOL state. That must be a mansion. Here's what a $400k home in Draper looks like[1]. That was the size of their mortgage.

This person does not have a debt problem. They have a spending problem.

[1]: https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Draper-UT/pmf,pf_pt/69...

I agree. He bought a used Mercedes for 390/mo while in college and not paying loans. What was wrong with having a used Toyota Camry for 8k?

It’s also not a low cost of living state either (not SV but not the midwest). That’s a $400K townhome with shared walls on both sides and a $225 HOA.

Here is a milion dollar detached home in that area: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/934-E-Crosswind-Way-Drape...

That house is freaking HUGE. Nobody needs 5,500 sqft.

I don’t disagree at all on the size but I wouldn’t classify it as a mansion just a big house. As a Utahn who works remotely with lots of people from the coasts. I feel its my duty to mention Utah isn’t as cheap as they think it is ha.

I mean I'm aware that it's not literally a mansion, but I meant it in the colloquial sense. :) Anyway, thanks, I think we are in violent agreement.

$225k/yr really isn't that great for an orthodontist. As a new grad general dentist, my salary is not too far off from that

And for every rich person, there's 19 more that got screwed one way or another with scholastic loans.

The last major age generation (the ones who are in their 50's to 60's) pulled the ladder up on us millenials. Ive heard the stories that college education in the '60s and '70s were affordable to the point that a summer job would cover 100% of the expenses. Instead, I ended up in $30k in debt.

The debt is a fact of life. And so is the likelihood that social security will not be there when/if I retire. The age keeps moving up and up, which is a form of generational theft.

Next time, try depersonalizing these types of articles. The problem of higher ed debt is a scary $1 trillion behemoth with no end in sight. When that bubble bursts, we all should worry.

Then these articles should use a range of people who have actual problems rather than a single person (whose name is in the title! can't get more personal than that) who is being an idiot.

You aren't wrong, but this article is worse.

My wife accumulated about 30k in debt, through EducationOne. It was guaranteed through TERI.

We chose a private lender specifically because at the time (early 2000s) private loans were dischargeable in bankruptcy and we wanted a hedge against the possibility that she might fail in her career. We accepted a significantly higher interest rate for that reason alone. They changed the law and now they're not dischargeable.

Luckily, TERI itself filed for bankruptcy and didn't keep good records. They'd sold the loans but the records showing assignment to the new entity apparently don't exist. We stopped paying on them, they filed suit, and we demanded that they prove ownership of the debt. They withdrew the suit, and the statute of limitations has since expired.

It is true that the boomers got a sweet deal. For instance, the Cal State schools were free until then Gov Reagan instituted tuition in the mid-70s.

I think this guy is a grifter just taking advantage of a system that rewards grifters. Sheesh, I wish I could afford EXTREME sports.

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